Cherry Rondina. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
For two seasons, Alyssa Valdez has sat alone atop the UAAP volleyball landscape leading the league in scoring and subsequently earning two MVP honors.
But there’s a challenger to Valdez’ claim as an energetic sophomore reigned supreme in the scoring department, at least after the first round of the UAAP Season 78 Women’s Volleyball tournament.
And its University of Santo Tomas’ Cherry Rondina who takes the distinction as UAAP’s best scorer so far as the “Cherry Bomb” recorded 129 total points across seven games good for an average of 18.43 points per game.
READ: UAAP Volleyball’s 5 best liberos after Round 1
Rondina’s teammate, and fellow sophomore, EJ Laure also cracked the top five in scoring putting up 106 points for an average of 15.14 per game as they led the Golden Tigresses to a 3-4 record capping the first round with an emphatic sweep of second-place La Salle on Wednesday.
Adamson’s stunner Jema Galanza, meanwhile, is the second-best scorer in the first round as she recorded 118 points on 16.86 per game while Far Eastern University’s Toni Rose Basas burst into the scene amassing 116 points or 16.57.
Basas’ Lady Tamaraws sit at fourth with a 4-3 record while Galanza’s Lady Falcons are at seventh with a 3-4 record.
Valdez, the reigning two-time MVP, is at fourth in the list with 113 points or 16.14 per game but her team is still atop the standings with a 6-1 record.
READ: UAAP Volleyball’s 5 best open spikers after Round 1
Ateneo’s Jhoana Maraguinot is the best spiker after the first round with a success rate of 43.97 percent on her chances while De La Salle’s twin middle blockers of Mary Joy Baron and Mika Reyes were the best blockers after seven games with an average of 1.04 and 0.7 blocks per set, respectively.
Breakout star Maddie Madayag is the halfway point’s best server with 16 aces and only nine faults, Kim Fajardo tied the Atenean with 16 aces but had 13 errors to go with it.
Lady Spiker libero Dawn Macandili is the season’s best digger with 72 digs to her name while her counterpart at University of the Philippines Arielle Estrañero is the best receiver with 96 excellent receives and an efficiency rating of 35.17 percent.
Fajardo, after seven games, is the best setter with 563 total sets while Ateneo’s Jia Morado came in second with 526.